Secret Lives! Of The Freemasons - Weekend Warriors

Band: Secret Lives! Of The Freemasons
Album: Weekend Warriors
Genre: Pop-punk/hardcore
Label: Victory

Tracks:
1. Chug and Leave
2. Mascara
3. Dirty Laundry
4. The New Whack
5. Feels Like Home
6. Why We Run
7. Airplanes
8. There’s Wolves Out There
9. Painting Monsters
10. The Death Of…
11. Xanax
12. Life Begins At The 40oz.

After the first spin of Weekend Warriors, the newest release from The Secret Lives of the Freemasons, it became instantaneously clear to me that these boys will not be living very “secret lives” for much longer. Being one of Victory Records most recent roster additions, the Secret Lives were set up for success. Weekend Warriors, which is the band’s second full-length album, has become one of those albums that I just can’t stop listening to and will soon be on the IPOD playlists of post-hardcore fans everywhere.

The first track on the album is "Chug And Leave." With lyrics resembling the typical college student’s weekend storyline, this starting track is destined to be a dance-along, sing-as-loud-as-you can type of tune. The upbeat drumming techniques of Travis Moss and sharp guitar riffs provided by Jim Debardi and Tucker Ensley, only add to the “danceability” factor. The album then moves into a more lyrically-evolved direction, with front man, Brien Worsham belting out “your tongue is a brush bucket of drama-- go out and paint the town blue tonight,” about midway through the song. Moving further ahead, the album tends to take on a more hardcore version of pop-punk. The drumming remains quick and decisive throughout the entire album and the dual guitar melodies create a vision in my head of teenagers rocking out as hard as they can at a show. When coupled with a standard groove infused bass line and melodic vocals, the Secret Lives surely got it right this time around. Whether it be the catchy vocals of “Dirty Laundry” or the sing-along styling of “The New Whack” and “Why We Run,” these songs will bring any true post-hardcore music fan out of their seats.

Comparatively speaking, Weekend Warriors has been said to exhibit vocal stylings similar to Head Automatica with musical stylings similar to Glassjaw. Personally, I think that the vocal and lyrical content is more developed than that of Head Automatica but the album definitely shows some musical characteristics one might find in an old Glassjaw tune. Weekend Warriors is a no-questions-asked amazing follow up to This Will Make You Dance and the label change from AstroMagnetics to Victory Records becomes quite obvious in terms of quality and likeability (not to mention the dropping of a third guitarist). Victory Records made a great decision signing The Secret Lives of The Freemasons last summer, as Weekend Warriors is a great release from an up and coming band that is sure to be hitting the scene hard within the next few months.

[written by our newest member: Meaghan Allen]

Grade: 8/10